


The Blond Girl in the Picture

by suitbadgetie



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Father Son Bonding, Mourning, Roller Coasters, cannon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:52:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4499619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suitbadgetie/pseuds/suitbadgetie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roller coasters and grieving go surprisingly well together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Blond Girl in the Picture

Haley had always been the one who liked theme parks. For their two month anniversary she had begged Aaron to drive them to the nearest park. It was two hours and forty five minutes away, and Aaron hadn't really had the money for the gas, but he'd taken her anyway. The look on her face when he'd told her he'd do it had more than made up for the money he would lose on gas.

So they'd gone. Aaron had felt reasonably comfortable with the idea of riding a roller coaster until he actually saw one. The shadow of tall, criss crossing wooden beams had fallen over them and sent his heart right up into his mouth. But he loved Haley, and so he spent half an hour in line slowly inching to what he felt had to be his death. Haley never noticed the sweat on his palms on the tense set of her shoulders because she was too busy bouncing up and down on her toes, blond ponytail swinging behind her in time with the thundering heartbeat in Aaron's ears.

God, he was nervous.

The ride itself was less than a minute. Haley screamed and laughed and raised her hands up in the air while Aaron gripped the bar in front of him with white knuckles and tried not to throw up. It was hell, and when it was over Aaron had decided that he was never going on a roller coaster again. Until Haley's fingers wrapped around his as she tugged him back into line. Maybe he loved her a little too much.

 

But now she was dead, and there were bloodstains on the floor in a house they didn't live in anymore. One last reminder of the gorgeous blond girl that had thrown her hands up and laughed at death in a theme park twenty years ago. Aaron hurt, and he could see Jack hurting too, but they both did it quietly and privately. At night in the shower where the tears would wash away without being noticed, or in the morning over breakfast that no matter how hard Hotch tried, was never as good as the pancakes Haley had made. They dragged their grief behind them like stones chained to their shoulders.

Jess had begun pulling Aaron aside for whispered conversations. She was worried about the way the youngest Hotchner had stopped smiling. Worried about the way the oldest one didn't talk anymore.

Hotch had been unpacking boxes (new house, no blood in the carpet and no memories lurking around corners) when he found the answer. The picture seemed like a prop, so far removed from reality that it couldn't have been real. But it was.

A faded shapshot that had been taken by the camera on the end of the roller coaster. Haley had one arm around Aaron's shoulders, trying to get him to relax, and the other was thrown up in the air. Aaron was looking at her, and she was looking up at the sky. Death didn't seem like something that could apply to the young couple that Aaron held in his hand.

The next day Hotch steeled his stomach and strapped his son into the carseat and drove. The drive to their destination was a little shorter than the one that he'd taken with Haley, but that didn't mean that there wasn't time to talk. Jack listened with wide eyes as his father told stories of first dates and anniversaries and inside jokes and weddings. Two hours wasn't nearly enough time to sum up twenty years, but that didn't stop Aaron from trying.

And when they got to the park, Aaron led Jack to the tallest roller coaster they could find. On the way up, Hotch showed his son how to put his hands in the air and scream like his mother had. When they were done for the day, Aaron bought another photo. It was almost the same as the one he'd found in the box: Jack, hands stretched up as he looked at the sky, his father looking down at him. They were both smiling.


End file.
